Student Performance Is Not a Solo Act

There has been a lot of talk lately about holding teachers accountable for student achievement. Many critics believe that a teacher’s salary should be tied to how well that teacher’s students perform in the classroom and on standardized tests. In response, I invite these critics to spend a week in my classroom to see what I deal with each day.

I teach social studies at Sepulveda Middle School, both in the magnet and the neighborhood or “regular” school. I have a “clear” teaching credential, along with a master’s degree in education from UCLA. My training was excellent and I felt totally prepared when I began teaching four years ago. I believe (as do the administrators at my school and the parents of my students) that I am an excellent teacher. I work hard and spend many hours after school and on weekends trying to find new ways to motivate students through stimulating lessons. Even so, there are challenges that I cannot overcome on my own, regardless of training or diligence, yet some politicians and bureaucrats want to hold me accountable for my students’ performance.

Each day, an average of three students is absent from my class of 32 sixth-graders in the neighborhood school. When it rains, as many as one-third to one-half of them don’t show up. Other students are absent an average of one day a week--regardless of the weather. Last semester, one stayed away from school 36 days. And only 33 days into this semester, I have students who already have missed 14 days. How can young people learn when they miss almost half of their school days? Should I be held accountable for these students’ performance?

Even when students do attend school, getting them to complete assignments is another struggle. When I assign homework, generally fewer than half turn it in. If you asked my students if they studied for a test I gave recently, more than half would say they did not. Should I be held responsible for their performance?

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I am lucky because I don’t have discipline problems, but what about teachers who do? Some must constantly stop lessons to deal with students who refuse to behave appropriately and respect the teacher and those students who are trying to learn. Should these teachers be held accountable for their students?

Most of Sepulveda’s students read at considerably below grade level. But somehow, year after year, they have been passed on to the next grade, despite not being able to do the work. They are not successful on standardized tests or in the classroom because they cannot understand the material. Should I be held accountable for their performance?

To their credit, administrators at my school have been looking into implementing a desperately needed school-wide reading program to bring such students up to grade level. I hope they follow through.

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I don’t have an answer to these challenges, but I know that a solution starts with the parents at home. Too many parents do not get involved in their children’s education. Either they feel that they don’t have the time or they just don’t know how to begin. When my school has parent-teacher conferences, most of the moms and dads who attend are those whose children are succeeding. The parents of children who are failing rarely are there. Parents who feel too pressed to spend time with their children doing homework or attending conferences shouldn’t blame teachers for their children’s problems. And if the parents don’t know how to get involved, then they need to find out, and the school and district administrators need to help them.

Before you decide that teachers should be paid based on the performance of their students, spend a week in my classroom. I think it will be an eye-opening experience.

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Rebecca Fish teaches at Sepulveda Middle School in North Hills. She lives in Calabasas.